February 17 Mixtape

By now you’ve probably come down from your conversation heart sugar overload and realized the commercialism that is Valentine’s Day is passé and you’ve told yourself that next Valentine’s Day you’re not going to fight over elbow room with neighboring couples and dish out too much money for an ounce of beef tartar, especially when the vegetarian options looked immensely better during your eight bites of your eight course meal.

Next year, stay at home, put on a record, crack open a bottle of wine, and cook something special for someone special: a lover, a friend, your dog walker, whoever you care about.

This month we’re sampling the soundtrack for that meal. And we may or may not have thrown in a handful of tunes that aren’t as much on the lovey-dovey side of the spectrum, because what brings people closer than a little emotional teardown? Get swept up in Bon Iver’s new album 22, A Million, or come down with his drummer, S. Carey’s stripped-down EP Supermoon. Put on an upbeat front with La Sera’s Music For Listening To Music To, while basking in their subtly crushing lyrics, a la Morrissey style. Then while you’re contemplating if you cooked the mussels long enough, or you should have skipped the cream in your carbanara so you’re not left with some sort of milk and noodle soup, flip over Dan Rico’s Endless Love to that B-side and let his “Casual Feeling” take those worries away, at least for a little while.